J. R. McNeill | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Robert McNeill (1954-10-06)October 6, 1954 (age 71) |
| Parent | William H. McNeill |
| Awards | Heineken Prize (2018) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Swarthmore College Duke University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | History |
| Sub-discipline | Environmental history |
| Institutions | Georgetown University |
| Notable works | Something New Under the Sun (2000) |
John Robert McNeill (born October 6, 1954) is an Americanenvironmental historian, author, and professor atGeorgetown University. He is best known for "pioneering the study of environmental history".[1] In 2000 he publishedSomething New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World, which argues thathuman activity during the 20th century led to environmental changes on an unprecedented scale, primarily due to the energy system built aroundfossil fuels.
McNeill was born on October 6, 1954, inChicago,Illinois. His father was the notedUniversity of Chicago historianWilliam H. McNeill, with whom he published a book,The Human Web: A Bird's-eye View of World History, in 2003.[2] He attended theUniversity of Chicago Laboratory Schools.
McNeill received his BA fromSwarthmore College in 1975, then went on toDuke University where he completed his MA in 1977 and his PhD in 1981.[3]
In 1985 he became a faculty member atGeorgetown University, where he serves in both the History Department and theWalsh School of Foreign Service. From 2003 he held the Cinco Hermanos Chair in Environmental History and International Affairs, until he was appointed a University Professor in 2006. He has written 7 books and edited or co-edited 17. He has held twoFulbright Awards, aGuggenheim fellowship, aMacArthur Grant, and a fellowship at theWoodrow Wilson Center. He was president of theAmerican Society for Environmental History (2011–13) and headed the Research Division of theAmerican Historical Association, as one of its three Vice Presidents (2012–15).[3] He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017, awarded the Heineken Prize in History in 2018, and served as president of theAmerican Historical Association in 2019.
McNeill focuses onenvironmental history, a field in which he has been recognized as a pioneer.[1] In 2000, he published his best-known book,Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World, which argues that human activity during the 20th century led to environmental change on an unprecedented scale. He notes that before 1900, human activity did change environments, but not on the scale witnessed in the 20th century. His analysis of the reasons behind the scale of modern environmental change foregrounds fossil fuels, population growth, technological changes, and the pressures of international politics.[4] His tone has been praised for being dispassionate, impartial, and lacking the moral outrage that often accompanies books about the environment.[5][6][7]
In 2010, he publishedMosquito Empires: Ecology and War in the Greater Caribbean, 1620–1914, where he argues that ecological changes brought by a transition to a sugar plantation economy increased the scope for mosquito-borne diseases likeyellow fever andmalaria, and that "differential resistance" between local and European populations shaped the arc ofCaribbean history. Specifically, he says that it helps explain howSpain was able to protect its Caribbean colonies from its European rivals for so long and also whyimperial Spain, France, andBritain ultimately lost their mainland empires in revolutionary wars in the Americas late 18th and early 19th centuries.[8][9][10] The book won theBeveridge Prize from theAmerican Historical Association, aPROSE award from theAssociation of American Publishers, and was listed by theWall Street Journal among the best books in early American history.[3]
In 2016 McNeill and co-author Peter Engelke publishedThe Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene Since 1945. The "Great Acceleration" of the title refers to the initial decades of theAnthropocene, which is a proposed era of greater human interference in the Earth'secology.[11] McNeill has also written a world history textbook,The Webs of Humankind (2020). He is working on an environmental history of theIndustrial Revolution.[citation needed]
 |
McNeill, J.R. "Peak Document and the Future of History," American Historical Review 125(2020), 1-18.
